LaPorta, Wilke lead Highland Lady Bulldogs to Senior Night win over Jerseyville
Highland seniors Bella LaPorta and Liv Wilke made sure senior teammates Taylor Kesner and Kirsten Taylor got to thoroughly enjoy their last home game at Highland High School.
Wilke slashed and shot her way to a game-high 15 points and LaPorta added 11 points and also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for her career as Highland rolled to a 73-41 Mississippi Valley victory over Jerseyville on Senior Night.
It was the perfect way for LaPorta, a 6-0 foot senior forward, to close out her final home appearance as a Lady Bulldog in this pandemic-shortened 2021 season.
She scored her 1,000th point on a layup with 5 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
“It felt really good with everything going on and all the craziness and I didn’t know if I was going to get it. Tonight it was really exciting and my teammates all hyped me up, so I was really excited,” said LaPorta, who is heading to William Jewell to play volleyball this fall.
LaPorta credited her teammates for helping her become the latest Lady Bulldog to reach 1,000 career points.
“My teammates helped me out so much and I really thank them, too,” she said.
Highland coach Clint Hamilton was thrilled to see LaPorta get 1,000 points for her career with her family in attendance.
“That was kind of the key going into the game — obviously win first — as we wanted her to get that on Senior Night. She had her family in attendance tonight, and I thought that was great they got to be here for it,” Hamilton said.
While LaPorta was able to celebrate her milestone, it was Wilke who drove Highland’s offense with a dominant first half of scoring. Wilke, a senior guard, hit shots in the lane, dropped in jumpers, and hit from long range to record 13 first half points in pushing HHS to a commanding 43-13 lead at the break.
Wilke wanted to make sure her last home game as a Lady Bulldog was memorable.
“I just knew it was the last home of my career, and we wanted to just give it our all and give it 110 percent,” Wilke said.
‘I’m going to miss their personalities’
Hamiliton praised Wilke’s big senior night performance.
“Liv, she’s kind of been a spark plug for us all year, and it seems like she’s always in the right spot at the right time,” Hamilton said. “She makes open shots and then when she’s in transition, she’s one of the faster kids on the team, and it pays off to have a kid like that.”
Highland (9-3, 7-2) continued to roll in the second half, and with 6:35 left in the final stanza, Hamilton pulled LaPorta, Wilke, Kesner and Taylor from the game so they could get a curtain call from the fans and some final appreciation for their contributions to the program.
“I’m going to miss their personalities, and, of course, they’re hard workers and great basketball players,” Hamilton said.
Highland seniors cherish final home game
For Wilke, getting to finish this season at home and have a campaign in spite of COVID-19 made the night all the more special.
“It’s been amazing,” Wilke said. “I’ve loved every second of it because we didn’t know if we would get a season at all. But then we found out what we were given, and we were just trying to make the most out of it. It was awesome.”
LaPorta echoed those sentiments.
“It’s so special,” LaPorta said. “It’s a crazy year but it’s been so much fun, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. Playing with my teammates and finishing out with a bang has been really fun and I’m going to miss my teammates.”
Kesner finished with 10 points, and Taylor added 7 points.
Highland takes down Mascoutah
Highland came up short Thursday, March 4, in its quest to gain a share of the MVC championship thanks to a tough 42-37 road loss at Civic Memorial.
However, on Monday, March 8, the Lady Bulldogs shook off a slow start and rebounded nicely to post a 62-26 conference home win against Mascoutah.
“It was 10-6 midway through the first quarter and after that we went on a 29-10 run through the end of the second quarter to open it up,” Hamilton said. “We did a really nice job guarding after the first four minutes. It took a minute to get back in the groove.”
Highland led 39-16 at the half and held Mascoutah (2-10, 0-8) to just six points in the second quarter.
LaPorta led three Lady Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points, while Kesner posted 13 points and Taylor added 10 points.
Lady Bulldogs finish season on high note
Highland trekked to Waterloo on Thursday, March 11, and, despite a slow start, finished strong and ended the 2021 season on high note.
HHS jumped to a 39-11 lead at halftime and rolled to a 57-33 Mississippi Valley Conference road win.
“We had a running clock in the fourth quarter and all of my seniors got double digits in scoring, so that was great (to see),” Hamilton said.
Highland, which finished the season at 10-3 overall and 8-2 in the MVC — good for second place — got double figure scoring from Kesner with 14 points, Wilke with 12 points, and Taylor and LaPorta with 10 points each.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 9:00 AM.